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AI USE CASE

AI Sizing Recommendation Engine

Recommend the right size to online shoppers, reducing returns and boosting conversion.

Typical budget
€20K–€80K
Time to value
10 weeks
Effort
8–20 weeks
Monthly ongoing
€2K–€6K
Minimum data maturity
intermediate
Technical prerequisite
some engineering
Industries
Retail & E-commerce
AI type
recommendation

What it is

Using machine learning on body measurements, purchase history, and return data, this engine predicts the optimal size for each customer across brands and styles. Retailers typically see return rates drop by 20–35% and conversion rates improve by 5–15% once the model is well-trained. By personalising size guidance at the product level, it also reduces customer frustration and repeat contacts to support. Over time, the model continuously refines predictions as new purchase and return signals accumulate.

Data you need

Historical purchase records, product return reasons, customer-provided body measurements or fit feedback, and SKU-level size charts across brands.

Required systems

  • ecommerce platform
  • crm

Why it works

  • Collect structured return reasons at checkout or return portal to create a clean training signal.
  • Standardise size chart ingestion across all catalogue brands before model training.
  • Offer lightweight measurement capture (e.g. comparing to a garment that fits) to maximise data collection without friction.
  • Retrain the model at least quarterly, aligned with new collection drops.

How this goes wrong

  • Insufficient return reason data makes it impossible to distinguish size issues from other return causes, degrading model accuracy.
  • Inconsistent brand size charts or missing product measurements cause poor cross-brand recommendations.
  • Low customer uptake of measurement input (e.g. refusing to submit body data) limits personalisation.
  • Model goes stale if not retrained after new seasonal collections or brand onboarding.

When NOT to do this

Don't implement a sizing engine if your catalogue has fewer than 500 SKUs or your return rate is already below 10% — the ROI won't justify the integration cost.

Vendors to consider

Sources

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